


Asphodel ZX: Other Scenes

by RandyPandy



Series: Asphodel ZX [2]
Category: Rockman ZX | Mega Man ZX, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Aile/Grey Storyline, Gen, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-04-02
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-27 22:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10054457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyPandy/pseuds/RandyPandy
Summary: A series of one-shots and scenes taking place in the same universe that did not make it into the main Asphodel ZX stories (A Real Hero).





	1. Colors

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published April 2, 2009. Features Aile and Luca.

"Let's see... bread, apples, oranges..." Aile glanced over her shopping list as she held the shopping basket with her supplies in her hand. Each Guardian was given an allowance in addition to the money that they earned from jobs, and were responsible for their own supplies.

It had only been last week that Girouette had been killed by two of Serpent's numbers, Prometheus and Pandora. Aile herself had been defeated by them, but due to Girouette's sacrifice, she had survived and had only gotten stronger. So far, she had taken down only one Pseudoroid, a rather annoying raptor-like one called Hivolt, and had rescued Model H. Model H, along with Model X and Model Z, had decided to stay on Guardian HQ so that Aile could get some shopping done.

Satisfied that she had everything on her list, Aile went to the checkout line. For a moment, she was sorely tempted to buy a candy bar, but ultimately held herself back. She stood in line behind a woman shopping with her daughter, who appeared to be about seven years old. She glanced at the two wistfully as the little blonde-haired girl said something that made her mother laugh. It only felt like yesterday that Aile had been shopping with her mother...

Frowning, she shook her head. "Get a grip," she muttered to herself. "You can't go back to it." Ten years may have gone by since Aile lost her parents in the Irregular attack, but the pain had never lessened. The recent loss of Girouette, who had been like a father to her, didn't make things any easier.

Aile paid the clerk for the supplies and left the store into Area C-1, holding her bag in one hand while she walked back towards the transerver in Area B-2 to head back to Guardian HQ.

"Excuse me!" a voice called.

Aile blinked and turned around. Standing in front of her was the little girl Aile had seen at the shopping center. Her hair was a dirty-blonde and she had reddish-brown eyes. The tell-tale inverted red triangle on her head indicated that she was a Repliroid child. She was wearing the traditional black body suit with a yellow frock with equally yellow boots, a pleated white skirt with frills, and was carrying a bright pink purse in her hand.

"Hi!" said Aile. "What is it?"

The little girl pointed at Aile's shorts. "Are you with Girouette Express?" she asked. Aile nodded. "I thought I recognized those clothes. I think I've seen you before, but I saw you earlier today when I was shopping with mother. Why do you always wear those clothes? You should buy some new, cuter outfits!"

Smiling, for the girl was quite cute in Aile's opinion, she relpied, "I would, but I just haven't gotten the chance. I'm usually very busy."

"Are you free now?" the little girl asked.

A bit surprised, Aile nodded. "Yes, I'm free."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Come home with me! My older sister never wears what I give her, but I think her clothes will fit you!"

* * *

That was how, ten minutes later, Aile found herself in the home of the little girl, who was called Luca. Along the way, the two had chatted, and Luca had revealed her dreams about becoming a fashion model for Serpent Company (Aile was hard-pressed to not blurt out her true feelings about the company). Luca was rummaging through the suitcases of her sister's unworn clothes to search for an outfit that she could give Aile.

"Let's see here..." Luca frowned a bit as she searched through the suitcase. Aile sat on Luca's bed, where the pink purse lay. Luca's room, while filled with the normal knickknacks that a little girl would have (such as dolls), were also filled with posters and posters of fashion models.

Suddenly, Luca sprang up. "Ah ha! I found the PERFECT outfit for you! Yes, yes, this one is just totally you!" Turning, she beamed at Aile. "Turn around please! I need to add this chip to your hair!"

Hair chips were a nice alternative to the messy process of dyeing hair, which would simply wear away after awhile. The hair chips were tiny and designed to fit into the cybernetics, and could do several things, but they were most commonly used by women to dye their hair. Presumably, that was what Luca wanted to do.

Aile turned around, closing her eyes as Luca carefully installed the hair color chip to her. When she opened her eyes, Aile couldn't tell exactly what color Luca had dyed it, since her hair was so short. However, from the few strands she could see, it DID seem lighter than usual.

"Now, miss Aile, can you let me put these on?"

"Huh?"

"I want to surprise you!" Luca said cheerfully. "Please close your eyes!"

In her fourteen years of living, Aile had never had a little girl change her. The little girl tugged Aile's shirt off before replacing it with another one, and removed her shoes and replaced them with another. Luckily, shoes were not a problem for Aile, and they fit her perfectly.

"I'm done!" Luca called. "Here's the mirror!" She held up a mirror in front of the transporter as Aile opened her eyes.

When Aile did so, her breath caught. It was almost like looking at a fusion of the two of them. Girouette had always said that he would be with her in spirit. She had never realized how true it would be. For the red hue of the clothes that she was wearing was identical to Girouette's own, and her hair was the exact same shade of strawberry blonde that his were. Tears threatened to fall down her eyes. How on earth had Luca known?

"Miss Aile?" Luca questioned, looking worried as she glanced at Aile. "Is something wrong? Do you not... like the outfit?"

Tearing her gaze away from the mirror, Aile turned to Luca. "No... No. This is wonderful. I don't know how you knew, but these clothes are absolutely perfect. Thank you..." She wiped her tears away. Luca looked a little concerned at the fact that Aile had been crying, but was happy about the fact that Aile had liked her suggestions. "I'm afraid that I need to hurry, though." Prairie had mentioned something about a briefing at 1600 hours, and it was 1530.

After receiving another outfit the exact same size ("Here, this green one will look good on you too, with this light-brown hair chip. Come back later and tell me what you think!"), Aile thanked Luca, picked up the bag containing her groceries and the second bag containing both her old and new clothes, and quickly departed out of Luca's house.

* * *

When Aile made it back to Guardian HQ, everyone stared at her. Finally, Model Z floated up to her, and said gently, "Didn't we tell you that Girouette's spirit is with you?"

She smiled at the Livemetal, nodding. "Yeah."


	2. Love, Aile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally published February 2, 2013. Featuring Vent and Aile.

After closing up Giro Express, Vent stared at the letter that had arrived in the mail for him. It seemed innocent enough, with the name "Vent Wiley" written in bold letters with the address to Giro Express. What he hadn't been prepared for was the sender.

Aile Wiley. He didn't recognize the address.

It had been more than two weeks since he had last seen his sister. She'd gone out on a routine delivery with Giro, and had waved good-bye to him, promising to be back soon. They'd made plans to go to Morgan's Arcade when Giro Express closed.

Time passed and they never came back. He never heard anything about them for the past two weeks, though some of the people in Area C would talk about a blue-clad girl in Area C that they had briefly spoken to. One girl (he thought her name was Melody) had even mentioned that the girl was delivering love letters from someone else to her, and that it had driven her mad.

Vent wasn't sure about that, but he was sure it had been Aile. And now, he was finally getting some contact from her.

After feeding Rush, he sat down on the couch and began to read.

* * *

_Dear Vent,_

_I know it's been two weeks since I last contacted you but I've been a little... busy. Remember when Giro and I went on our last delivery? We got ourselves involved in something different... something very dangerous. I don't want you to get involved with it, but just know that I'm safe. I can't tell you everything in a letter, but I can tell you several things, just so you know what I've been through in the past few days._

_Giro's gone. It's all my fault. If I had just listened to him..._

_Vent, Giro wanted us to be his successors. That's why he taught us the ins and outs of Giro Express, so that we could run it when he's no longer around to help us. But I can't do that, so it has to be you that does it. Don't be mad at me. Just take me off of the payroll, hire someone else if you need to, and keep on going. I know that you can do it. Giro wouldn't have trusted us otherwise._

_I guess you want to know where I am. I've joined the Guardians. Yes, those Guardians. Did you know that Giro used to be a part of them, but he left? He left when he found us, so that he could take care of us. They're really nice, and they offered to let me become one of them. I know I can do a lot to help here than I could down there, so I stayed. I'm sorry Vent, but I can't go back. Not when they need me._

_I've made some new friends, too. I've become pretty close to another girl named Prairie, and Fleuve, and some other... special people. Their names are X, Z, P, H, F, and L. The names might sound a bit odd, but they're good people and I know I can count on them for anything. They've been really helpful, even if L likes to tease me about finding a boyfriend. I should start teasing her about how she flirts with Z... she's related to all the rest. Ah well._

_Whenever I dropped by Area C in the last couple of weeks, I didn't have any time to go to where Giro Express was. I'm sorry about that. I really did want to see you, but the missions that the Guardians have kept me on have kept me busy. Besides, some of these missions, they..._

_Vent, the Maverick that killed our mom? We found him - he was one of the two holding P prisoner in that amusement park, and I couldn't have that, could I? Not after what he'd done, and I had met X, Z, H, L, and F at that point, and they were really worried about him. He's dead now, and good riddance. I can't forgive him for what he did to mom. I'm really grateful to those five for helping me destroy him myself. I've learned a lot about defending myself and others since meeting them... if only I'd met them before that day._

_You've heard what's happened recently, right? About how Slither Inc. fell? I did that. And good riddance to them, too. I heard about what the news has been saying about it - I met this reporter named Halison when I was helping the Guardians evacuate Area G, and he agreed to take as much of the details as he could on it - so it should be accurate. Though, I know you don't like to watch the news that much, so I'll give you some of the juicy details here._

_Serpent was a Maverick._

_All the Maverick attacks in our lifetime was because of him, Vent. He was the one that did it. He was the one that sent that Maverick to the amusement park. He might as well have killed mom and Giro himself. How many other people have suffered like we have? He's dead now; he can't hurt anybody anymore, and Slither Inc. is gone. I'm not sure yet if someone good-hearted will take over that company or whether it's going to stay abandoned, but they'd better rename it. I can't stand that name._

_Anyways, I said earlier that I'm not going to be coming back for now. We're going to be heading out of Cinque Ville, and to another city in Innerpeace. The thing that is responsible for everything is still out there, and I have to go find it, just so no one else suffers like we did. I know you would want to help, but please, trust me, Vent. I don't want you involved in this, and I know Giro doesn't either. That was why he never told us everything. I only found out by accident._

_Take care of yourself, and give Rush some treats for me, okay? I'll try to visit the next time we're in the area. Try not to worry about me._

_Love,_   
_Your sister, Aile_

* * *

Vent closed his eyes, and set Aile's letter, tear-stained as she had obviously been crying while writing it, aside. He dropped to the floor, hugging Rush as the red and white mutt trotted up to him and licked his face.

"Aile, you stupid... how can I not worry about you?"

As soon as he got up tomorrow, he was going to run Giro Express to the best of his ability instead of just a caretaker, take good care of Rush... and look for his sister.


	3. Backup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally published February 23, 2017. Featuring Master Albert.

Today's Maverick attack had been one of the worst, Albert mused.

A town on the outskirts of Innerpeace had been attacked, and destroyed before either the Guardians nor Slither Inc. had been able to reach it. Usually, Albert insisted that any survivors that he met be brought to him.

Publicly, this was to issue a formal apology, to meet with the victims, to let them know that Legion and the Sage Trinity cared about them and worried about their well-being. Let the public believe what they wanted to about that.

It wasn't completely a lie; he did want to meet these people, in case he ended up seeing them again. Several of these people were destined for greatness, if they survived the Game. People that were clever enough to hide or protect themselves from the Mavericks did deserve the power to back it up, to usher the world into a new age.

Only the strongest should survive the Game, and he picked his contestants from those survivors.

This time, though, there were no known survivors.

And that infuriated Albert.

One thing that he had learned to do was never to count on something, to always create a backup plan in case his plan failed. And plan that he had.

If he failed, then he had Model A, a Biometal he'd designed on rumors of a shapeshifting Reploid from the 22nd century, to inform any alternate bodies or decoys of himself of the plan. Not knowing the Reploid's name, though, he'd just named it after himself - Model A, or Model Albert.

And if both his decoy in the Sage Trinity and his original body both fell, then... well, he was still only human. It would be foolish to believe that, after two hundred years, he did not have descendants of his running around. Albert had kept careful track of all his descendants, having them submit a genetic profile each time a new member was born to ensure that, if need be, they could Megamerge with Model A and eventually Model W.

As the years went by, though, the different divisions of the family started losing that particular string of DNA, from mixing new blood in constantly. By now, there had been only one family branch left that had any genetic compatibilities. The father had married into the family and the son had not inherited the DNA and therefore they were useless.

But the mother and the daughter both had had the string of DNA. And they had lived in the recently-attacked town.

Albert almost crushed the monitor with his fist.

He had no descendants left, unless one counted Prometheus and Pandora, and he'd certainly never treated them like his children; there was no love lost between them and they would gladly destroy him if they got the opportunity and he knew it. If both bodies fell, there was no one that would be able to carry on the plan. He could always designate one of the Chosen Ones that had survived Maverick attacks, but it felt... wrong.

He had to build another alternate body for Model A, one looking very different from him. He couldn't have it too similar to himself; if someone took out both his normal and decoy body, then they would know who he looked like.

If he ended up needing no use for it, it could join Prometheus and Pandora. And if both this body and his other one fell, then he could just use it.

As he pondered a design for it, the image of a little grey-haired boy with green eyes and a scar he'd gotten from falling and cutting his cheek came to mind. His real son, Grey, exactly how he had been the last time he had seen him, long dead from the lifespan limits set on the populace. That would be the perfect design.

Albert glanced once more at the screen that had the data of his youngest descendant, the daughter, no more than three years old, with silver hair and green eyes. Her name had been Asherah, a fine name. A pity that she hadn't lived to do her duty, whether it be taking Model A and continuing the Game or producing a few more descendants; but if he'd had to hasten the Game of Destiny in her lifetime, he would have gladly kept her around provided she had obeyed him.

...He really was getting old and sentimental.

* * *

Twelve years later, his foolish sentimentality came back to bite him.

When the process of programming his backup body was interrupted, he had angrily sent Pandora to dispose of it, and Prometheus to retrieve Model A. A real shame, but he could build another one, even if it took another thirteen years. But the longer he remained without any backup, the better the chance of the Game ending right then and there, and he was at least going to keep Model A near him until he could finish it.

But Grey had not only escaped and found refuge in the Hunters' Guild, but had Megamerged with Model A, effectively preventing Prometheus and Pandora from taking it.

Prometheus had mentioned that he'd been interrupted by some Hunters who challenged him for it (with more colorful language), and Albert, to humor himself, had checked on the identities of the Hunters that had gone on that mission. There'd been four of them, and three of them had gone missing.

One of the missing Hunters had caught his eye: a girl called Ashe, silver-haired and green-eyed, found by Hunters not long after the Maverick attack in that town twelve years ago. They'd never brought her to meet Legion other than getting her registered as an orphan as the Hunters' Guild was too far out of the way and trips to Legion were pricey; Albert, not knowing due to the fact that Hunters' picked up orphaned relatives all the time, had not insisted on meeting her like he did with all survivors.

He hadn't even realized it; his descendant Asherah had, somehow, survived the Maverick attack all those years ago. He hadn't had to build the backup body due to her being around - in fact, building the backup body and trying to recover Model A had only made more trouble for him.

But it was too late now. Asherah was missing thanks to Prometheus (if she had even survived him) so she couldn't take either Model W or Model A, and Grey had just made his core go critical. Bested by his own defective backup, based in appearance on his long-dead son, with his core programming.

The irony was beating him around the head.

"Goodbye, ultimate Defective! You can have your gentle peace... and leisurely rot in it!"


End file.
